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I used to go to Yachats all the time when I was younger. It is a cute little whole in the wall along the coast. The last time I was there it had all the usual small town shops and touristy shops you often find in small towns along the beach.

stars hollow! my favorite nonexistent new england town full of witty and mildly wealthy speed talkers! :)

There are a bunch of beds and breakfasts near Yachats, plus some of those super cute L-shaped motels. I think I stayed at one called "Deanne's Oceanside Resort," or something like that. It had original 50s glass bricks in the bathroom.

In town, there are kite shops, donut shops, and now espresso shops.

paia, maui (HI) made the list!!... i love that place... i have family in Hana, Maui and I will stop in Paia all the time when I need to drive to the other side for groceries

Paia reminds me a lot of Haight Ashbury

Stars Hollow is supposedly a combination of several Litchfield County, CT towns. The story goes that Amy Sherman-Paladino created Gilmore Girls after a stay at the Mayflower Inn in Washington, CT. Stars Hollow would be a combination of Washington, New Preston, Kent, and possibly others. Luke, of course, lived in Litchfield while he was married, although in reality, there are no stone townhouses in Litchfield. Aside from the distant locations of New Haven and Hartford, the series also makes specific references to Watertown and Naugatuck. (Although the Naugatuck reference struck me as misplaced, it would be likely that Luke would take Lorelei to Watertown to buy a new car, since the Watertown motor mile contains one of the largest series of auto dealerships in the area.)

As for Knights Ridge, "nothing ever changes in the Ridge but the seasons." Love that location, too.

My boyfriend and I drove up 101 through Yachats a couple summers ago. We stayed at a campsite nearby and didn't get to explore the town too much, but the area around it is stunning. If you get to Yachats, look for an organic coffee shop called the Green Salmon on 101. The coffee! The tea! And, oh God, the hot chocolate! Not to mention the amazing quality of the morning light and the open floor plan. We still yearn for it.

It's really to bad the town you used as the picture isn't included. I see that view every day on my way to work in washington DC. The town pictured is Annapolis Maryland and I live there, very much a very cool town in its own rights. The water, sailing, B&B's, old houses, brick roads, coffee shops, book stores, and the naval academy, all make it worthy of this list, even if it isn't on it.

sailingzahn: im glad to hear that annapolis is just as charming as it seems in the photo above. i may have to add that to my list of places to visit someday ...

Waitsburg is just up the road; I go there often. It's not really such a "cool" little town though, mostly just small and sedate. Houses are cheap, though, so more and more people from California, Seattle, etc are moving in, starting restaurants, etc -- ten years ago there was basically a bar and a diner; now you can have organic greens and local beer and wine.

Really, it is a nice place, just not very "cool" in the sense that people usually mean cool (such as a vibrant economy, an arts scene, hipsters walking around, or whatever). I think that retired people might find it cooler than someone younger. The most interesting aspect is that many of the people buying and restoring the old houses in Waitsburg and other nearby towns like Dayton are gay couples, which is a real novelty in small town eastern Washington -- when doing profiles about them, the local paper is always very delicate: e.g. "Jack and his friend Bob...." or even "when Jack and Bob wanted to retire from San Francisco, they remembered Waitsburg from their summer vacations as children...." with no mention of words like "partner" or "husband."

Annapolis used to be very cool, back in the 60s when I was going to school there (St John's). Now it's an overpriced tourist mecca.

Annapolis is nice, but does 36,000 people count as a small town?

For California towns, I'd nominate the Northern CA railroad town of Dunsmuir.

And Prescott, Arizona, was great before all the Californians started moving there. Now it's a bit large and crowded.

there are some small MA towns that should/could be on the list, like N. Adams, home of Mass MOCA, and Montague. serenity, now.

I was in Yachats, on a day trip to the Devil's Churn from Eugene, about a month ago. It *is* a pretty great little place. Being on 101, by the ocean, with the Oregon summer (cool and damp, delicious)--none of those hurt at all. We ate at a place that looked just like one might expect but was actually not at all what we expected--vegan items *on the very menu* and some great tempeh fajitas in a setting that was more suggestive of bad ranch dressing and battered fried cod. Sat 18 of us without blinking and was had a great time. Sure wish I remembered the name, but it was just down the street from, apropos of Jennyj, the Green Salmon.

I LOVED the Green Salmon coffee place. The espresso was pulled perfectly, with great crema and no bitterness. I wished I was settling in for an afternoon of backgammon or something in that great open space, all of its little chairs and tables, racks of papers, flyers for local events...and the ocean just the other side of 101. *sigh*

Jens -- let's keep the small western Mass towns off these lists -- too many people are already on to them!!!

I grew up in a Stars Hollow town- New Fairfield, CT. One pharmacy, one supermarket, a theatre, schools, town hall... that's about it. It's a cute lake day trip from NYC and close to New Haven, Danbury and other bigger CT towns.

Jens and Mid-C Frank -

I'm from Mass., too, and I think Northampton should've made the list! Also, the coastal towns of Salem, Rockport and Newburyport.

When I visited Boston I made the effort to get up early and take the train up to Salem for the morning - I loved it - a wonderful town and beautifully quiet first thing before all the shops opened - its one of my favourite memories of that trip

My family rented an amazing beach house near Yachats- once owned by Ken Kesey. It was located on a bluff overlooking the ocean, had a full kitchen, comfortably slept six and cost only $125 a night in the high season! I have very fond memories of Yachats and the spectacular Oregon coast, and that was the best vacation rental experience I've ever had. I wish there were more places like that on the East Coast.